Introducing Kitten To Resident Cat

[fmoreira86]

Hi!

I adopted a male cat 1 and a half week ago.

My resident female cat (3 years) is a calm cat.

I tried to do everything I read from cat behavior:

Introducing the new cat into an isolated room with everything he needed. The resident cat hissed and growled to his scent left on towels. She stopped that after some days.

So I started to feed them at the same time. Stoped free feeding so I could be sure that they eat at the same time.

Right now now they can eat with nothing separating them but the resident cat still hisses when he is too close.

I try to play with them at the same time and everything goes fine if they are not too close. If they get too close (4 feet away) the resident cat hisses and after that tries to punch him. He doesn't do anything... Just stay still in a body language that I would say that means "ok you are bigger and stronger... I won't do anything. Look you can atack me if you want".

I don't see claws beeing used by resident cat but I am afraid that she injuries the kitten.

I already have feliway friends difusor in place.

What can I do to help the resident kitten to get along with the kitten without hissing and punching him?

Thank you!

 

[Mamanyt1953]

First, congratulations on getting them that far along in just a week and a half! Most introductions take far longer than that. I've seen it take months for two cats to really get along.

Now, I know it looks scary when your older cat goes after the kitten, but this is part of them working out who is boss, and additionally, your cat is also teaching your kitten manners. His own mama would act very much the same way if he got out of line with her. So long as the "attacks" aren't resulting in blood, everything is fine! Once your older cat has taught the new kitten just what his place is, and he's behaving toward her as he ought to (in her opinion, not yours), they will be just fine.

IF this turns into real attacks (but I don't think it will), and the kitten is actually injured, YELL, and we'll work on that, but for now, you are all OK.

 

[fmoreira86]

Thank you for your input.

I leave the kitten in the kitchen (where I installed his basecamp) when I am not at home. When I come back from work I feed them and play with them.

I am still afraid on leaving the kitten alone with my resident cat when we are not at home.

I always try to understand behavior improvements but she still hisses to the kitten, still punches him... And it makes me nervous

When is the right time to leave them alone? When he is bigger ?

I am afraid that I might introduce some problems in his behaviour with this.

 

[rubysmama]

Hello and welcome to TCS. And congrats on the adoption of your new kitten! How old is he?

 

[fmoreira86]

Arround 2 months.

 

[rubysmama]

The "recommendation" is to keep kittens with their mom and siblings until 12 weeks, so they have time to learn cat manners. So at only 8 weeks or so, your kitten is still pretty young. Therefore, your older cat will likely have to teach him kitty etiquette.

Females usually like to be the alpha cat, and a male kitten will generally be ok with that. So hopefully in time, they will become best buds. But until your kitten gets bigger, I would not leave them alone without supervision.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Give him another month or two. That should do it. Kittens grow very quickly at that age.

 

[fmoreira86]

Thank you for your replies.

In fact we are separating them when we're not at home.

When we are at home we let them run all the house. Some hissing here and there, some punches here and there but I'm confident that my resident cat isn't trying to hurt the little one

The new cat has lots of energy... so she needs to tell him "stop!!"... and he stops

 

[rubysmama]

Sounds like things are going well. Can we see pictures?

How To Add A Picture To Your Forum Post

 

[fmoreira86]

Here they are...

 

[rubysmama]

Awwww... they're both beautiful. Thanks for posting the pics.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Your cat is stunning, and I'm sitting here laughing like a hyena at the look on the kitten's face!

 

[fmoreira86]

Some years ago I "didn't like" cats... But they are amazing!

 

[Mamanyt1953]

We have more than one convert on here. Yes, they are. Because their facial expressions are, in general, so much more subtle than dogs, a lot of people don't understand how intricate their personalities and emotional responses really are! Glad you "saw the light!"